chapter eighteen an unexpected prisoner

the sticks stared at edgar as if he was mad.

"cows throwing things?" said mrs. stick at last. "what do you mean by that? cows don't throwanything."

"these ones did," said edgar, and then began to exaggerate in order to make his parents sympathisewith him. "they were dreadful cows, they were - hundreds of them, with horns as long as reindeer,and awful mooing voices. and they threw things at me and tinker. proper scared he was, and so wasi. i dropped the cushions i was taking down, and rushed away to hide.""where are the cushions?" said mr. stick, looking round. "i can't see any cushions. i suppose you'lltell us the cows ate them."

"didn't you take everything down into the dungeons?" demanded mrs. stick. "because that room'sempty now. there's not a thing in it."

"i didn't take anything down at all," said edgar, coming cautiously out of the dungeon entrance.

"i dropped the cushions just about where you're standing. what's happened to them?""look 'ere!" said mr. stick, in amazement. "who's been 'ere since we've been gone? someone's takenthe cushions and everything else too. where have they put them?""pa, it was them cows," said edgar, looking all round as if he expected to see cows walking off withcushions and silver and blankets.

"shut up about them cows," said mrs. stick, suddenly losing her temper. "for one thing there aren'tany cows on this island, and that we do know, for we looked all over it this morning. what we heardlast night must have been queer sort of echoes rumbling round. no, my boy - there's something funnyabout all this. looks as if there is somebody on the island!"a dismal howl came echoing up from below the ground. it was stinker, terrified at being alonebelow, and not daring to come up.

"poor lamb!" said mrs. stick, who seemed much fonder of stinker than of anyone else.

"what's up with him?"

stinker let out an even more doleful howl, and mrs. stick hurried down the steps to go to him.

mr. stick followed her, and edgar lost no time in going after them.

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"quick!" said julian, standing up. "come with me, dick. we may just have time to get that trunk!

run!"

the two boys ran quickly down to the courtyard of the ruined castle. each took a handle of the smalltrunk, and lifted it between them. they staggered back to george with it.

"we'll take it to the cave," whispered julian. "you stay here a few minutes and see what happens."the boys went over the cliff with the trunk. george flattened herself behind her bush and watched.

mr. stick appeared again in a few minutes, and looked round for the trunk. his mouth fell open inastonishment when he saw that it was gone. he yelled down the entrance to the dungeon.

"clara! the trunk's gone!"

mrs. stick was already on her way up, with stinker close beside her and edgar just behind. sheclimbed out and stared round.

"gone?" she said, in enormous surprise. "gone? where's it gone?""that's what i'd like to know!" said mr. stick. "we leave it here a few minutes - and then it goes.

walks off by itself - just like all the other things!""look here! there's someone on this island," said mrs. stick. "and i'm going to find out who it is.

got your gun, pa?"

"i have," said mr. stick, slapping his belt. "you get a good stout stick too, and we'll take tinker.

if we don't ferret out whoever's trying to spoil our plans, my name's not stick!"george slipped away quietly to warn the others. before she slid down the rope into the cave, shepulled several bramble sprays across the hole. she dropped down to the floor of the cave, and told theothers what had happened.

julian had been trying to open the trunk, but it was still locked. he looked up as george panted outher tale.

"we'll be all right here so long as no one falls down that hole in the roof!" he said. "now keep quieteveryone, and don't you dare to growl, timmy!"nothing was heard for some time, and then stinker's bark came in the distance. "quiet now,"said julian. "they are near here."

the sticks were up on the cliff once more, searching carefully behind every bush. they came to thegreat bush behind which the children often hid, and saw the flattened grass there.

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"someone's been here," said mr. stick. "i wonder if they're in the middle of this bush - it's thickenough to hide half an army! i'll try and force my way in, clara, while you stand by with my gun."edgar wandered off by himself while this was happening, feeling certain that nobody would befoolish enough to live in the middle of such a prickly bush. he walked across the cliff - and then, tohis awful horror, he found himself falling! his legs disappeared into a hole, he clutched at somethorny sprays but could not save himself. down he went, and down and down - and down -crash!

edgar had fallen down the hole in the roof of the cave. he suddenly appeared before the children'sstartled eyes, and landed in a heap on the soft sand. timmy at once pounced on him with a fearsomegrowl, but george pulled him off just in time.

edgar was half-stunned with fright and his fall. he lay on the floor of the cave, groaning, his eyesshut. the children stared at him and then at one another. for a few moments they were completelytaken aback and didn't know what to do or say. timmy growled ferociously - so ferociously thatedgar opened, his eyes in fright. he stared round at the four children and their dog in the utmostsurprise and horror.

he opened his mouth to yell for help, but at once found julian's large hand over it. "yell just onceand timmy shall have a bite out of any part of you he likes!" said julian, in a voice as ferocious astimothy's growl. "see? like to try it? timmy's waiting to bite.""i shan't yell," said edgar, speaking in such a low whisper that the others could hardly hear him.

"keep that dog off. i shan't yell."

george spoke to timothy. "now you listen, timothy - if this boy shouts, you just go for him! liehere by him and show him your big teeth. bite him wherever you like if he yells.""woof!" said timmy, looking really pleased. he lay down by edgar, and the boy tried to move away.

but timmy came nearer every time he moved.

edgar looked round at the children. "what you doing on this island?" he said. "we thought you'dgone home."

"it's our island!" said george, in a very fierce voice. "we've every right to be on it if we want to -but you have no right at all. none! what are you and your father and mother here for?""don't know," said edgar, looking sulky.

"you'd better tell us;" said julian. "we know you're in league with smugglers."85

edgar looked startled. "smugglers?" he said. "i didn't know that. pa and ma don't tell me anything. idon't want anything to do with smugglers.""don't you know any-thing?" said dick. "don't you know why you've come to kirrin island?""i don't know anything," said edgar, in an injured tone. "pa and ma are mean to me. they never tellme anything. i do as i'm told, that's all. i don't know anything about smugglers, i tell you that."it was quite plain to the children that edgar really did not know anything of the reasons for hisparents coming to the island. "well, i'm not surprised they don't let spotty-face into their secrets,"said julian. "he'd blab them if he could, i bet. anyway, we know it's smuggling they're mixed up in.""you let me go," said edgar, sullenly. "you got no right to keep me here.""we're not going to let you go," said george at once. "you're our prisoner now. if we let you go backto your parents, you'd tell them all about us, and we don't want them to know we're here.

we're going to spoil their pretty plans, you see."edgar saw. he saw quite a lot of things. he felt rather sick. "was it you that took the cushions andthings?"

"oh no, dear edgar," said dick. "it was the cows, wasn't it? don't you remember how you told yourmother about the hundreds of cows that mooed at you and threw things and stole the cushions youdropped? surely you haven't forgotten your cows already?""funny, aren't you?" said edgar, sulkily. "what you going to do with me? i won't stay here, that'sflat."

"but you will, spotty-face," said julian. "you will stay here till we let you go - and that won't be tillwe've cleared up this little smuggling mystery. and let me warn you that any nonsense on your partwill be punished by timmy."

"lot of beasts you are," said edgar, seeing that he could do nothing but obey the four children.

"my pa and ma won't half be furious with you."his ma and pa were feeling extremely astonished. there had, of course, been nobody hiding in thebig thick bush, and when mr. stick had wriggled out, scratched and bleeding, he had looked roundfor edgar. and edgar was not to be seen.

"where's that dratted boy?" he said, and shouted for him. "edgar! ed-gar!"86

but edgar did not answer. the sticks spent a very long time looking for edgar, both above groundand underground. mrs. stick was convinced that poor edgar was lost in the dungeons, and she triedto send stinker to find him. but stinker only went as far as the first cave. he remembered the peculiarnoises of the night before and was not at all keen on exploring the dungeons.

julian turned his attention to the little trunk, once edgar had been dealt with. "i'm going to open thissomehow," he said. "i'm sure it's got smuggled goods in, though goodness knows what.""you'll have to smash the locks then," said dick. julian got a small rock and tried to smash the twolocks. he managed to wrench one open after a while, and then the other gave way too. the childrenthrew back the lid.

on the top was a child's blanket, embroidered with white rabbits. julian pulled it off, expecting to seethe smuggled goods below. but to his astonishment there were a child's clothes!

he pulled them out. there were two blue jerseys, a blue skirt, some vests and knickers and a warmcoat. at the bottom of the trunk were some dolls and a teddy bear!

"golly!" said julian, in amazement. "what are all these for? why did the sticks bring these to theisland - and why did the smugglers hide them in the wreck? it's a puzzler!"edgar appeared to be as astonished as the rest. he too had expected valuable goods of some kind.

george and anne pulled out the dolls. they were lovely ones. anne cuddled them up to her. sheloved dolls, though george scorned them.

"who do they belong to?" anne said. "oh won't she be sad not to have them? julian, isn't it funny?

why should anyone bring a trunk full of clothes and dolls to kirrin island?"